Pride.It seems such a forthright sin but it is very good at camouflaging itself. Sometimes pride is worn like face paint. It's blatantly obvious to everyone else but not realized by the wearer. After some serious examination, or a chance encounter with that reflecting glass in bank windows, it is finally obvious that some humble pie is in order.
The other kind of pride parades itself around wearing a "Sunday best" wardrobe and high heel shoes. It looks really good. It's confident, it's witty, and everyone likes it because hey, this kind of pride is friendly, charming, and has a great Christian image. Watch out though, because this pride sits quite comfortably in church pews. It is eager to help after service, it can quote Scripture, and readily extends a hand to those who are hurting. It's actions outside are in every respect good, right, and moral but if you were to peek inside, it'd resemble stepping into a sarcophagus.
Ouch. How is this possible? How can one be doing everything right and still be full of dead men's bones? An individual may not see their pride and others around them don't see it either. It is a masquerade ball and Pride has arrived in a "good Christian" costume.
Here's the problem: dressed up pride is still pride. Doing all the right things with the motivation of "me" do not equal glorifying God. The reason I can say all this is because I'm guilty too. My cup may look pretty sparkling clean from the outside but often it is filled with soured expectations, negativity, and selfishness. No good!
Those things I do because they're right must be done because the Saviour alone is worthy. Not because Beth deserves to look good, not because it is expected of me by some other person, but because He expects it of me and it is the least I can do for the Lamb that was slain.
The Bible is always true and when the Word says that pride comes before destruction and that haughty spirit before a fall you'd better believe that those fancy heels don't serve so well on the narrow, uphill road Christ has called us to climb. Someday before the throne of the Almighty, when all the pomp and fluff we call our "spirituality" and "service" is stripped away, I believe many of us will be appalled at what we proudly offered to the King of Kings.
Barefoot on holy ground before the Lord is where I can only hope to kneel. As He teaches me and continuously reveals to me the "accessories" of pride I fail to even acknowledge, it is my prayer to be able to honestly know and admit that I have not attained anything apart from His grace.
"A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you." - C.S.Lewis
